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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Crackdown on jammers continue with “NOJAM” and action against sellers on Craigslist

The FCC has a new weapon in its continued efforts to aggressively enforce the law with respect to the sale and use of illegal radio jammers. The new weapon is a dedicated jammer tip hotline, 1-855-55-NOJAM. The hotline is intended to make it easier for the general public to report offenders.

The Press Release announcing the new hotline encourages the public to call the hotline if;

you are aware of the ongoing use of a cell, GPS, or other signal jammer;

your employer operates a jammer in your workplace;

you observe a jammer in operation at your school or college;

you observe an advertisement for a jammer at a local store; or

you observe a jammer being operated on your local bus, train or other mass transit system.

In the Press Release, Michele Ellison, Chief of the Enforcement Bureau, said: “We need consumers to be our eyes and ears. Jammers do not just weed out noisy or annoying conversations and disable unwanted GPS tracking, they can prevent 9-1-1 and other emergency phone calls from getting through in a time of need.”

On the same day of the announcement, the Enforcement Bureau took action against another six individuals for advertising and selling signal jammers on the popular classified ad web site Craigslist.org. The actions come with a warning that the FCC intends to impose “Substantial Monetary Penalties” for similar violations going forward.

So how much will that $45 illegal jammer really cost? The Consumer Alert issued within an FCC Enforcement Advisory explains penalties can exceed $100,000 per violation.